Today's Opinions

Memo to teachers and other authority figures nationwide: Respond to actual threats where they exist. Where no threat exists, leave our children alone.

A teacher in West Virginia demanded that a high-school student remove a T-shirt decorated with the National Rifle Association logo and a picture of a rifle, according to media reports last week. Also adorning the shirt were the words, “Protect your right.”

Sometimes choices aren’t clear-cut. Who hasn’t gone through the frustrating experience of choosing between “A” or “B” or “1” or “2” at the optometrist’s office.

But the selection that needs to be made with the Common Core academic standards is the exact opposite: It’s simple and obvious. Forget, for a minute, about all the facts and myths associated with the program. Legislators who are debating whether to halt Common Core have this choice:

Session is coming to an end and the last two weeks can be the busiest. Many times, I catch myself thinking that session does not always resemble what I learned in school, so I wanted to fill you in on what the last two weeks of session look like.

The kids in third-grade music class at Clay-Huff Elementary knew I was different when I cried over the folksy song about Rhody’s dead gray goose. Everyone else gathered around the piano and sang their hearts out. I was looking out at the window, looking for the goose’s orphaned babies and crying gander spouse.

As reporters, it is our job to share the truth with our community. We strive hard to find all the facts, to talk to as many people as we can to make sure what we print provides our readers accurate information.